Vampires of Detroit

Petra fought an epic battle, and won, obtaining the title of Grand master of the Sworn of the Axe. Exciting. She also has spent personal time with Raphael. Dr. Acula had a questionable, but fun party celebrating the unexpected murder (beheading) of Counselor Daniels. The sheriff had questioned him about it, and thought it was in poor taste. Nickolas cut Paula off of his affections, and chose to reign in whatever feelings were between them. Dr. Akula moved in with Lana Stavross, and her place was where party took place. But now the big news…

The Ordo of Dracul is being blamed for the plague upon the city, and the Carthians want the order disbanded, and the responsible parties punished.

Sorry this was short and uncreative.. I am on borrowed time, and if I left anything out, please feel free to add.

The Cards Know

Knowledge from the Future:
I laid down a card to give me insight into what might be on Nicholas’ mind. It was the Two of Cups—a new relationship of some sort, a new connection blossoming. Intrigued, I placed another card to its left to explore the possible background of this connection and received the Page of Cups, reversed. There was someone in his past, I think…a young woman he cared for deeply and lost, whose memory he can’t escape from. Well, we all have a bit of that going on. It was the third card, the “future” card, that raised the most questions. Death. Not exactly the most surprising card when reading for the Kindred, as death is our past, present, and future. Of course, it’s usually a metaphor. But whatever the specifics, this connection he’s made is going to change drastically sometime soon, for good or ill. Possibly both.

There are rumors going around about Petra treading awfully close to the line when it comes to the Masquerade. She appears in my readings as a Page of Wands, reversed. Not a good sign, but sadly in line with my observations. She shows a tendancy to show off, even to bully. But she’s very athletic, very talented, if only we could get that energy flowing more smoothly rather than pooling and flooding.

There was a meeting of the Ordo Dracul, which I was not permitted to attend, despite the strong representation among my coterie. I tried to determine what I might be missing, but the results were both ominous and rather unclear. The High Priestess—yes, thank you, a mysterious reservoir of knowledge, I knew that already. The Emperor reversed—a weakness or lapse in their leadership, perhaps? The Wheel of Fortune—some rise to power, some fall from it. I do notice that all of these cards are from the Major Arcana. Whatever is happening here is firmly in the hands of destiny, and will more than likely affect all of us. Fire and Water, with Fire being dominant and the Ordo as we know it in submission to the changes that lie in its future. Will it boil up as a mighty new power, or evaporate entirely?

The Good and the Bad:

Something awesome happened today. I found the perfect place to set up my practice. I don’t know how a location like this could be in a city that is such a mess, but it is obviously a sign that I need to stick around. It even has a place to live…. Now I need to start decorating!

Nicholas and I went to check on the incident at the church. The priest who answered the door immediately shut it in our faces, and then angry men with pitchforks came after us for being vampires and trying to turn people in their parrish into vampires. Naturally we ran away

I apologize for my Coterie’s hasty departure after leaving Matthew Brown’s remains with you. It had been a long night for us and the coming dawn lent itself to clumsy explanations and speedy retreats. Your patience in this matter is appreciated and as promised, here are the events of last night as I and my Coterie experienced them.

We attended the meeting you had called wherein we learned of Matthew Brown biting three people in front of numerous witnesses at the bus station. There was suspicion of a mysterious disease being spread through his bite as one of his victims, Kathleen Cutler, appeared later that day at a local mall on a killing spree. She slaughtered eight of the kine before security guards stopped her (with heavy force I understand). For the good of the assembly, a blood hunt for Brown was issued. Dr. Acula was asked to make sure he took the lead in the investigation of any virus in connection with these events. He expressed his discomfort with taking on such a prominent role among mortals, but assured the council that he would do what he could from a less conspicuous position.

True to his word, Dr. Acula went to the hospital shortly after the meeting was adjourned. He arrived to the sound of mortal death cries. At great personal risk he went into the hospital alone to investigate the situation and found that miss Cutler’s mall victims were viciously attacking the hospital staff and patients. In short, it was a massacre. Dr. Acula immediately reported these events to you and to the Ordo Dracul. Jose Cleto along with eight other members of the Ordo (myself included) went into the hospital to put the hostiles down. This we did in good time, suffering no casualties. Grandmaster Cleto proved a competent and effective leader in the situation. Also worthy of note on this occasion was Petra Molnar. Her expertise in this matter made short work of the animated corpses. Using the incinerators in the hospital basements, we destroyed all the body’s left behind. There were about 100 witnesses to the horrors of the bloodied hospital halls, but the perimeter we set up caught them all. Those of us with the appropriate disciplines (myself included) wiped their minds of the events so as to safeguard the masquerade.

When things at the hospital seemed well in hand, my Coterie took up the hunt for Brown so as to prevent additional unfortunate incidents. We went to the bus station to attempt tracking him. Both Dr. Acula and Miss Molnar were able to pick up his scent, but we didn’t get far before I received a call from the recently reawakened Olivia. She had already tracked him down, and gave me his location. Within twenty minutes we had taken him captive without a fight. Unfortunately, as we tried to interrogate him, he successfully mesmerized one us into killing him. His manner up to that point was one of depression and utter dejection. The only words we got out of him were, “Kill me.” We then brought you his remains as evidence of his final death.

As one who loves a good show, I thoroughly enjoyed my coterie’s performance last night. They executed their duties to the assembly faithfully and with great efficiency. Though I did not mention them above, Victoria and the new comer Vadoma were in attendance for most of these events and lent their talents for the good of the assembly as well. I am again grateful for Olivia’s contribution. It is hard to say what might have happened if we hadn’t been led to Brown so quickly. I would like to close by asking you to reconsider placing additional resources at the hospital where Dr. Acula works. He is more than equal to the task of protecting our interests at his post, and I think he simply did not express himself very well last night. It’s not that he was unwilling to safeguard the masquerade, it’s just that he preferred to go about it from a more subtle (but no less effective) position. Upon my word, he is more cunning, crafty, and capable than he lets on, and I have no doubt that he would have obtained the council’s desires in this matter. His manner may need polishing, but his actions speak of one who has sought the well being of the Carthian Assembly of Detroit. Please, forgive a leaden tongue and accept the merits of gold.

Your Obedient Servant,
Nicholas Wilkinson

From the Personal Diary of Nicholas Tooley December 29, 2012

All things considered, last night was an overall success, no thanks to my graceless Coterie! First, Marcus is approached by the council itself and asked to take the lead in an investigation from the mortal side of affairs, and what does he do with this opportunity? He contorts his brow like an imp and slurs out some spittle about not wanting to take on such a prominent position! I swear I’ll never understand Mekhets! Always keeping to their shadows, Fie! What’s the point of having a domain to rule if no one can see you?

Meanwhile, Petra continues to astound and confound. One moment she proves remarkable, but before that same hour expires she loses herself to her bestial brain and claws away at the very foundation of her influence! At the hospital she was perfect. Her sentience joined with her beast and from that union death itself was birthed! Her enemies were before her as frail sacks of rubies, and with ebony claws she released their treasures with such grace and art of dance as to strike the most proud thinker dumb.

For what nobleman looks down upon this lady now?
Now that she has come dressed to dance her dance before her lords.
Should the music play for Petra long enough,
what man shall there be left alive?

I digress.

We returned to the Ordo victorious. Ephraim, her mentor, her most influential contact with our society, produces the shining diamond of opportunity before us, upon which is written “Hunt down Matthew Brown.” At this Marcus wags his head as dog which dislikes the food in its dish. But Petra! Petra who but a little hour ago blasted Mars from his pedestal to make space for herself, steps down from her godhood with sounds of childish scoffing that she should do this thing. To answer Ephraim’s displeasure I seized the opportunity and took the diamond for myself. The interest of which will accumulate along with the rest of my gems, and in a day not far distant I shall find myself rich.

The ritual was successful beyond my expectations, and Matthew Brown was found in no time at all. I possessed him with no trouble and we took him back the Ordo for interrogation. Whether I underestimated his abilities, or overestimated Petra’s mental fortitude… or both… Brown dominated Petra into killing him. At least we were able to keep Brown’s connection to the Ordo Dracul secret from the council. Saved face there. Marcus took care of Browns… experimenter. Or at least what was left of him as I understand it. Burned it all down along with the notes detailing the creation of the disease. No trace, no trail to the Ordo. He knows how to take care of these things. For all of their social stumbles, my Coterie does have their upside. Oh, and seriously, what kind of ignoramus thinks it’s a good idea to make a gouling disease in the first place!

Victoria remains… difficult to read. I am pleased to see the pawn promoted. I haven’t thought of how to use her new guardian position yet, but it will no doubt be put to service someday. Vadoma on the other hand has proved useful time and time again. In her short stay with us, she has already shown herself to be a talented and trustworthy ally. She is from the old days as I am, and it shows in her social graces. It is now my intention to seek her out for our Coterie. She will be a perfect addition.

And now, I must continue my real work. For my lady is awakened, and her domain awaits.

Woke up Christmas night to find that Detroit was flooding. Moved collections to higher shelves just to be safe. A little crowded, some aesthetic sacrifices, but can’t risk losing anything. Tried to keep some semblance of order, mostly with success. Of particular note, moved watches up between jewelry (bracelets) and pocketknives. Think I like them better there than their previous place by electronics. Did cause me to notice I haven’t got a solution for what I’d do with a timepiece other than a wristwatch or pocketwatch—one suspended from a necklace, say. Definitely want to see what I can come up with. Everyone used to wear those, but I haven’t seen one in a long while. Could try to find it on one of those ridiculous steampunk fans. Must keep an eye out. Probably be into the kiss anyway. Weirdos.

Got a weird call from Vadoma and Petra. Long story short, I guess they released this thuderbird thing to try to get it to fight the dragon thing? Don’t know where they got that, but anyway, that’s what was causing the storm, all the fighting. Also apparently there were Strix in that mountain. So… now those are everywhere too, we guess. Haven’t seen any yet. Kind of peeved about it anyway.

Anyway, they wanted to come back to my house, but I was afraid they’d move in again, so I finished fanning out the wallets and headed out to the old hospital to check out the show. Not much to see. Bunch of others were there. They told me they could see the two big beasts scrabbling up in the sky. Couldn’t see it. Too much lightning around the building to want to get close. Larry did it anyway, but there wasn’t anything interesting going on in there. Then I guess he flipped out and killed some random bystander. I don’t know. Larry.

Wanted to stay close to the place to make sure no one else moved in on the nest before we could secure it—Kindred, werewolves, anyone. Then those two kids showed up, the ones who look like Mary. Couldn’t believe it. The older one was trying to get the younger one to walk up to the building, little twit. (Note to self: Figure out what their names are.) Shut that down and sent them running home like rabbits. Dumb kids.

Spent the night on watch, but wasn’t sure how to chase off the others sniffing around. Everyone else was busy reporting in and/or kissing up. Old Tooley went to see Ivory and give him the news, see what he could do about it. Guess it makes sense. Ivory had some kind of daytime force he could send in to make sure we got it. Petra meanwhile went to Ephraim about the Strix. Obviously he was not pleased. There’s been some research going on. Nothing good.

Next night the storm was a little less crazy. No flooding in my house, collection all fine. I kind of went between the hospital and the people doing research, trying to keep on top of things. If anything ever happened to be on top of. Boring.

Should have gone to see old Tooley’s play. Not a fan—never got used to the “restored” ending all these depressed people like to use. Haven’t tried all that hard, but. Anyway, sounds like that’s where all the excitement was. First off, Mr. Prima Donna cut in at the last minute and replaced King Lear. Then, Larry showed up, sat in the middle of the audience, and cranked on his Daeva powers, apparently just to be a prick. Larry. So no one was watching. Between acts Tooley calls him back and cusses him out or something, then dominates him and sends him marching home, but half the audience follows him. Not a great night for Tooley, even without him nearly breaking the Masquerade in front of his little ingenue.

I guess he was still angry later. Disappeared for a while, then showed up with some Ventrue dame we’d never seen before while we were sitting around looking at pictures of Strix and talking about how screwed we were. Didn’t make any introductions. Marched in to see the council and we didn’t see him again. Really wish I had that place bugged. A private bug, though.

Went home. Next morning the storm was over, the sun was shining, &c. Hurried over to the hospital where “our guys” were moving in on the wyrm’s nest. No sign of any conflict over it, but the moron I talked to wouldn’t give me any information except to say Ivory was in charge. So I went to see him. I must have been first, because apparently they needed a Guardian for the thing and no one had been picked yet. I didn’t know a wyrm’s nest guardian was even a thing, but that person gets the job of watching over it, which means constant and unlimited access—not to mention veto power on anyone else using it. Seriously. I couldn’t believe it, thought it’d be a lot harder to get myself in there. But no. Asked for it and got it. All he wanted was for me to vote for him, like I even care who’s in charge of the order. I’m in charge of the wyrm’s nest.

Haven’t decided exactly what I’ll do there yet, but I have a feeling the space can only be highly beneficial to my “personal” research. Might even move some of my collection in there. Maybe start an annex. We’ll see what kind of private space I can make. And how powerful it is, too. Definitely some questions I want answered. Putting Vadoma to work as soon as I find her.

Think that’s it. Petra went out and argued with some humans, I guess. And something had Acula on full angst , but he didn’t talk about it and I didn’t ask. [NOTE: It was around this time that the vampire known as Dr. Acula learned that the human woman who so reminded him of his former lover was, unbeknownst to her, pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby. Judging by later events, it is probable that he didn’t much approve of the attitude or behavior of the father, either. – Ed.]

[Insert Preferred Wyrm Pun Here]

A blurry, poorly lit image flickers through a stream of static, revealing a gaunt figure whose image won’t quite come into focus. He holds a cigarette between his lips as he fiddles with the settings, typing and clicking for a few moments. He sighs and sits back, still blurry and not quite focused, backlit and shadowed, taking a deep drag on his cigarette before beginning.

Well, that’s the best it’s like to get. Welcome to Dr. Acula’s Video Blog.

The words. “Dr. Acula’s Video Blog” appear on screen in a bit of post-production, then “Dr.” and “Acula’s” push together and a fang logo fades in behind “DrAcula’s” on screen.

Petra and I… a snapshot of Petra appears on screen in the lower left corner …finished researching Quetzalcoatl or whatever-it-calls-itself. puff Turns out it’s this seriously bad shadow serpent or whatever. puff A bunch of the lore points to giving powers to witches that always seem to get the short end of the deal. That kind of thing. puff Pretty bad mojo. puff

So, I figure it’s gonna double-cross and screw us, right? Better figure out the weaknesses and such. A bunch of stories about warriors getting swallowed by the thing and cutting their way out from the inside didn’t sound like a very promising path. I mean, I guess we could toss this Rattagan guy at it and tell him to pull a Tommy Lee Jones… He pauses, as if for a response. “Men in Black”? Why do I bother? Anyway, we could try that and hope for the best.

We tracked the guy down, by the way. I guess last night Bodoma…or… Vodoma… Whatever that Gypsy calls herself. The one I told you about that just parked outside Victoria’s place. Weirdo. puff …Both of them. puff Anyway, she summoned up some spirit of Order at the library and convinced it to track him down, as he’s in league with Chaos and whatnot. puff Enemy of my enemy kind of stuff. puff Anyway, we got an address at some Motel.

Or… puff The other big threat seems to be a Thunderbird… Sadly, not the sweet car I wanted when I was a kid. Some stupid Indian myth creature. I mean, I’m a literal kind of guy, I was thinking maybe getting Rattagan possessed and then running over him with a Thunderbird would do the trick… puffNicholas… As before, an image appears in the corner, showing Nicholas …not so much. puff He’s all hot about tracking down this Thunderbird whatever. puff

Anyway, we look into it and find this Lakota…. puff …or whatever story. puff Supposedly, one of these things was buried under a mountain out here after fighting a bunch of shadow barn owls and the whole lot of them crashing to earth. puff Sounds pretty gay. But, sure enough, Nicholas is all riled up and ready to send people off to check it out. Of course, he’s not gonna go himself… puff Lazy A loud bleep covers the expletive. So, puff Petra and whatever-that-weird-Gypsy-chick’s-name-is… Petra and a “???” image appear. …go off in an RV to check it out. That was a couple hours ago. They’ll probably call back soon and tell us it was a waste of gas. puff

What else is new? puff Oh. So, I went and checked in on that girl that looks like Lisa last night. puff Turns out she’s got a guy sleeping in bed next to her, right? He stubs out that cigarette and lights a new one., then takes a long, slow draw. So, I check the mailbox. Two last names. puff What’s up with that, huh? puff Something Greek, like “Stavros” and “Jibar,” as in “Kareem Abdul.” puff I’m freaking out. puff I gotta know more about this guy and their living situation. puff So, I… There is a moment of silence where the audio cuts out, then an obvious voice over. …Don’t do anything illegal…. Another second of so of silence, then the original audio cuts back in. …and I lick their mailbox the next night. That was like an hour ago. puff So, get this… puff She’s _BLEEP_ing pregnant! A few silent seconds of furious puffing go by… I’ve got to come up with some way of getting this… Bleep. …out of the way… puff

puff Speaking of old flames… He chuckles quietly… So, Nicholas… the requisite image appears …was telling me about this girl in the theatre he’s taken a shining to. puff I guess last night it got all weird for him, because she looks like his daughter… puff Who, I assume was smoking hot. puff He offered her some free voice and dance lessons… Sounded like he was coming on like a real creep… puff Which, he is… puff And, she more or less offered him a bit of the good old… He makes a series of lewd gestures and noises. And, it freaked him out. Sounds like a classic closet reverse Electra complex, in my expert opinion. self-satisfied puff I figure he should just hit it and get it out of his system, but whatever. puff Repressed sexual tension explains a lot about that guy. puff

I think that’s all… He puts the cigarette between his lips and clicks at the keys a moment before the image cuts out.

A few moments of static later, the image cuts back in. Well… Bleep.! Remember those shadowy barn owls? puff Okay… let me go back. So, those two get to the mountain and check it out. There’s this big door with Indian scribbles all around it warning about danger or whatever. They open it anyway, rather than bothering to call me. So, they crack it open with some blood on the runes or whatever. And release a bunch of crap that’s been imprisoned there. Wouldn’t you know it? puff

Plus side… puff That Wyrm is about to get an Beep. full of Thunderbird. Down side… puff Looks like those owls might be Strix… So, I reiterate… Long bleep. Then, he sits back, takes another slow drag and the image cuts out, returning to “DrAcula’s Video Blog” logo on a black screen.

At Elysium we were told a ceasefire between us and the changelings had been agreed upon. We were instructed to be careful not to stir up contention there lest fighting break out again.

Ephraim Pokorny asked to meet with us, which we did after attending a rave. We learned that there may be a Wyrm’s nest at the remains of the hospital that recently exploded. We were asked to investigate this possibility and to secure the wyrm’s nest for the Ordo Dracul should we find one.

Although they’re not part of the covenant we invited Larry and Vodomma to assist us. Larry is part of our Coterie and can therefore be trusted. Vodomma is new, but her talents in blood magic could prove invaluable in matters such as this.

Accordingly, we all met up at the hospital’s remains. At length we did discover a wyrm’s nest… with an occupant. A powerful spirit of Chaos named Unk Cekola. Rather than fighting for the wyrm’s nest we proposed a partnership wherein we share the space. The spirit’s price for this is that we find him a host. In this the spirit was very specific in his instructions. We are to bring him Christopher Rattagan, a hunter with a well known relationship with chaos spirits in Detroit. We told the spirit we would begin the search for Rattagan right away.

The question is, “what will this spirit do once he inhabits his host?” A hunter like Rattagan gaining power such as this spirit can offer is unsettling to say the least, but will he have ability to act as he wishes? The spirit may be at the wyrm’s nest because it is unable to venture very far from it lest it’s form destabilizes. Were not sure what a powerful spirit of chaos will do once it’s unleashed upon the city, but we can probably expect… chaos.

We are proceeding with caution. Petra and Marcus are researching this spirit while Vodomma, Larry and I are making efforts to find Rattagan.

-Nicholas Wilkinson

December 22, 2012

Vodomma indulged my request to commune with the spirits to help us find Rattagan. Rather than seeking other spirits of chaos however, she has opted to speak with spirits of order, believing that they will be keeping close tabs on a person like Rattagan. Not a bad idea really. Unfortunately, She was unsuccessful in her attempts to make contact. Without her success in this area, the trail feels cold to me. Larry has been trying to find any electronic record or trail leading to Rattagan. He did find a pawn shop that had done business with him not to long ago. We… persuaded the owner of the shop to report to us the moment Rattagan comes in again. Let’s just hope that happens after dark if at all.

Meanwhile, Petra and Marcus continue their research on Unk Cekola. It may be that an alliance with such a being would prove catastrophic. It may come down to a fight rather than a bargain. Hopefully the research will turn up something that will give us an edge should things come to that. If nothing else, perhaps we will be able to better predict what the spirit will do once it inhabits its host.